 |
Phils Putzing around?
By Jonathan Atwood on December 2nd, 2009 3:34 PM |
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Baseball, Phillies Rumors & News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
According to a report Wednesday by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Phillies have expressed interest in former All Star reliever J.J. Putz.
Putz, coming off season ending elbow surgery last year with the New York
Mets, saved 40 games for the Seattle Mariners in 2007. The Phillies believe that he could help sow up the back end of the bullpen and provide some insurance should closer Brad Lidge relive his 2009 season.
Putz doesn’t come without some risk though, as he has yet to prove that he is fully recovered from an injury that ended his season after just 29 1/3 innings.
That being said, he fits perfectly into what Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro is looking for as he is willing to accept a one-year, incentive laden deal. It would allow him to re-establish himself as a premier reliever, and the Phillies could rid themselves of him if he repeats his own disappointing 2009 season.
If Amaro did pursue Putz, he would face stiff competition, as Pittsburgh, Houston, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Texas are all said to have at least expressed interest in the 32 year old. Putz has a career ERA of 3.24 ERA with 103 saves.
